Decoded
by Lianna-snow
Summary: First year anniversaries are always tricky, because you're unsure of how to start or be original. It's not a good idea to be overseas, and it's even worse if you completely forget it. Richard Castle has already reached strike two, and it's turning out to be a horrible day for Kate. However, a certain package reaches her desk that could change the turn of events for the better.


Decoded

In leiu of the AWESOME NEWS that is the season 5 promo coming out tomorrow, I decided to upload this fic early:D Post Canon/Future Caskett fic. This fic is a VERY BELATED present to my close friend Jennie, aka JellieEllie:) go check her out because she's awesome and really sweet. It was our one year anniversary of friendship on 8 August, so YEAH^^ Hey Jennie, it's been A BLAST being your friend:) I hope our friendship continues for a long time to come:) And yes, we are still on for our stalker trip in LA! Love you lots girl;) I hope you like this:D By the way, your soul is still safely kept in my pretty jar:D

I apologise if the characters seem REALLY OOC here:( It's been a while since I've written a Caskett fic, as you can see:P I need to "refresh" my knowledge, especially since it's during the hiatus:/ So, I would really appreciate it if you could give me some feedback on this story:)

Disclaimer- I don't own it, but I do own seasons 1-3 on DVD :D

###

"Hey Castle!" Kate grinned happily into the camera, as the computer screen blinked to life, revealing a sleepy Richard Castle trying to stifle a yawn. "Long day?"

"Good night, Beckett. Wow, this is new. You never call first. What did I miss?" Rick asked excitedly, his previous exhaustion having evaporated into thin air. He looked like a nine year old in a candy store again. That had never changed, even after all this time.

"Well, Castle, that's because I actually have work to do, unlike a certain someone." She said, grinning. Rick chuckled at her statement, knowing that she didn't mind a bit when he called, as long as he did. It was one of those things that she would never admit to anyone. Kate Beckett missed him.

"Contrary to your belief, I actually spent the entirety of the last three days working." He announced with a proud grin.

"Oh, you mean, taking photos with fans and signing women's chests? Sure, Castle. That must have been exhausting." Kate replied, rolling her eyes. Her words were dripping with sarcasm, but she was clearly fighting a smile.

"What, are you jealous?" Rick asked, a familiar smile slowly spreading across his face. If only because he knew he could tease her now, without overstepping her boundaries.

"No! Contrary to YOUR belief, I don't have time to think about women falling over you as you walk by them. Although, I bet that that's something you've thought about often enough." She shot back, a light blush coloring her cheeks as she quickly diverted his attention to a different subject.

"I resent that accusation! You know I only ever think about you falling over me." Rick winked mischievously at her, making her roll her eyes again.

"Really, Castle. You don't remember what today is?" Kate looked at him expectantly, and with a certain measure of disappointment. He thought hard about it, for a moment.

"Um...no. I didn't note it down. Is it something more important than murder?" He had meant it as a joke, but the moment the words left his mouth, he instantly regretted it. Her cheeriness fell away, and she looked as if he had just slapped her. It was clear that he had said something wrong and she was hurt.

"Oh. Um. Nevermind. It wasn't that important anyway."

"I only said that because your shift starts in fifteen minutes and you're usually heading to the precinct about now." Rick tried to catch her eye, but she looked away from him, presumably at her watch.

"You're right. I should get going. Talk to you later, Castle." She said, her voice turning cold as she rose to close the laptop, cutting off his response.

Kate sank back down onto her bed with a groan. She unlocked her white iphone and looked at the Rick's contact picture. He had sneakily changed it while she was doing some paperwork. The Rick in the photo beamed at her innocently, looking so adorable that it made it hard for her to stay mad at him. She locked her phone and turned her face into her pillow.

How could he forget about it? He seemed like the type of person who would have a count down in anticipation for it. After all, he was the person who told her recently, that it was their sixth year anniversary of their first case. She told herself that she was just over reacting. It wasn't that big of a deal.

Just then, her phone vibrated. Kate glanced at the reminder saying that today was her and Rick's one year anniversary of their relationship, and sighed. It was going to be a very long day.

###

She was greeted by a mountain of paperwork sitting on her desk. She felt her mood sink even more, and even wished for a body to drop. Ryan and Esposito probably sensed her bad mood, and decided to keep away from her. They knew from experience what she was like when Castle wasn't around. So, she could feel their worried stares on her, but she kept her head down and refused to look at them.

It was almost lunch break, by the time she peeked at the clock. She ignored the dull churning in her stomach. She didn't have time for lunch, no matter how good a distraction sounded. It felt like every time she finished a report, there were two others that were added to her pile.

"Delivery for Detective Beckett?" A young boy with a rucksack, holding a manilla envelope, called out. All heads turned to the boy, who seemed relatively unfamiliar with the place, and apparently, the system too.

She got up from her seat for the first time that day, and collected the envelope. The handwriting on the envelope was distinctly Castle's, but what surprised her was the thin, glossy photograph inside of it. A note saying 'It's not a body, but if you get bored with the paperwork, you can try to solve this.' was stuck onto the back of the photograph. It was a close up shot taken from a single page in one of his novels. After admitting that she was an avid fan of his, Kate knew that he did this with the intention that she would figure out where it was taken.

After re-reading the hand written note a few times, she glanced around to make sure that no one was around, and went into the meeting room. She quickly logged into her account and ran the cipher programme from the FBI, that the team had used to help solve the Nikki Heat case.

At first, she didn't know if she should be pleased that he remembered, or angry that he had been leading her truth was, her initial anger at him for 'forgetting' about their anniversary had long faded. She just missed seeing him so much, that the longing she felt, had turned into a feeling of abandonment.

Her fingers lightly skimmed the surface of the keyboard, her other hand tucked under her chin. She glanced up at the screen, that showed that the programme was still scanning. The memories of their first case came flooding back, making her smile at how different they were back then.

He had been a reckless and immature playboy who was used to getting what he wanted, when he wanted. She had been a cowardly and broken woman who had lost the ability to trust people, hiding behind her walls of denial. It was only when they had crash-landed into each others' lives, that things finally started moving in a better direction.

The computer screen suddenly blinked, taking her away from her thoughts. A screen shot of the fifth page of the sixth chapter in Heat Rises came into view. Kate looked at the implied number scheme and smiled to herself. So, he hadn't forgotten about it after all. She was reaching for her mobile, to call him and yell at him, when the computer screen blinked again.

A mysterious file that she hadn't known existed on her hard drive, suddenly popped up. She figured that Rick had most likely put it into her computer when she wasn't around. The file was entitled 'Message in a Bottle', and upon noticing how he named it, Kate wanted to roll her eyes again. Typical Castle. Even when he wasn't around, he could still be as irritating as ever.

The file contained numerous, random photographs of sign boards and street names. They were taken from odd angles, but they looked relatively harmless. However, most of the photos had been edited. Multiple letters and words were crossed out, and things added, changing the messages completely. Out of all the photos that were taken, a few had caught her detective eye. She fiddled with the settings of the photos, rotating those she deemed fit. Soon, the message hidden inside the jigsaw puzzle became clear.

"One year spent together was not nearly enough. Here's to the next hundred being more satisfactory."

She rolled her eyes, but she couldn't stop a happy grin from sneaking across her face. It was just like him to create this 'game' to send her a simple message. It almost made up for him not being around to celebrate with her.

The sound of the elevator opening, and footsteps coming nearer, caused her to scramble for the system to log off and shut down. The click clack of her heels seemed just a bit louder than usual, in the almost empty bullpen, as she made her way back to her desk.

"Anything happen while we were gone, Beckett? You seem happier." Ryan came up to her desk, eyeing the manilla envelope still sitting on her desk. "It's from him, right? What'd Castle send you?"

"An invitation to the bedroom at a cheap motel." She gave them a smirk, playing along, wanting to show them that she was really fine.

"Really?" Ryan stifled a smile, as Esposito jumped out from behind his desk with ill concealed excitement.

"No! What are you, twelve?" She quickly shut down their over active imagination, half amused at their attempt to restore normality to the situation. "Don't you have more paperwork to do?"

They seemed to be satisfied with her response, as they both turned back to their desks and their own stacks of paper. She gave her own sideways glance at the towering stack of papers blocking her view of the chair next to her desk, and pulled out another file to get started on.

###

The acute chill in the night air made her quicken her pace along the quiet sidewalk. After a long day of paperwork and no Castle, all Kate wanted to do was to sink into a warm bath and read a book. She had everything planned out, how she would walk into the house and ignore how empty it was. She would head straight to get the bath ready, tying her hair up into a messy bun before she stripped herself bare. After all, no one else was around. The next hour or so, would be spent reading Heat Rises with a glass of wine. All in all, it was an almost perfect way to spend her one year anniversary. Except for the fact that her boyfriend was currently unavailable.

Her thoughts placated her as she stepped off the elevator, and turned the key. She only noticed that something was amiss, when she realized that the window was open. She distinctly remembered leaving it shut. Immediately jumping to a worse-case scenario, Kate wanted to scream. Whoever the intruder was, had to choose THIS day of all days, to come here. Her immediate reaction was to whip out her gun, and slowly back herself up to check the rooms. A soft movement behind her caused her to take a deep breath. She turned around to surprise the intruder with her gun and shout "NYPD!", when the words died in her throat.

"CASTLE?"

"H-hey Beckett. How's it going?" The sheepish grin he sent her as he raised both his hands in surrender made her lower her gun. He recalled the last time they found themselves in a similar situation, and gulped. She was definitely not going to be pleased. "You know, I think it's fate that keeps allowing us to meet like this. Do you think I woke up some ancient curse again?"

"Cheer up Castle, it's probably the universe punishing you." Kate said, smiling as she put her gun away, her original plans forgotten. Her initial surprise to seeing him in her apartment faded, and was replaced with a surge of joy. She wrapped her arms around him, and buried her head against his chest.

"It's nice to see you too, Kate." Rick grinned, hugging her back just as tightly. The faint scent of cherries from her hair reminded him of how much he had missed her during the past few days. "Did you get the letter?"

Pulling back from him with sudden force, as if remembering some mistake he did, Kate sent him an icy stare. "Yes, I did! Oh my God, Castle, you completely mislead me!"

"Well, you did say 'today', when according to my time, it was yesterday." He sneaking a glance at her, as she lightly swatted him on the shoulder.

"Such a smartass." She mumbled back.

"But you love me anyway."

"You know, I'm still thinking about that." Kate shot back, the smile never leaving her eyes. "You're lucky I missed you too."

"I definitely agree with you on that. I'm the luckiest guy on earth right now."

"Don't patronize me, Castle."

"You know, I noticed that whenever you're pretending to annoyed with me, you always say 'Castle'; but whenever you want something, it'll become 'Rick'. Isn't that strange?"

"No it's not, but I WILL make it strange, if you don't shut up and kiss me, Rick." He did, and Kate kissed him back with gusto, knowing that when she opened her eyes tomorrow, he'd be right there with her. Always.

###

Thoughts?


End file.
